Dominic Waghorn

Diplomatic Editor

This is a president with no good options when it comes to Iraq. So he is playing for time. But with the speed of events in Iraq, time is not on his side.

There is nothing urgent about President Obama's reaction so far. He may claim his national security team is working "round the clock" on "options".

But he personally is off to California for events that include a $32,000-a-head fundraising dinner.

It is business as usual.

Image Caption:The president is facing a nightmare scenario in Iraq.

Op-ed writers in US newspapers have accused him of "fiddling while Rome burns".

His Republican rivals say he is "taking a nap" on Iraq.

Video:What Can The US Do About Iraq?

Mr Obama may well be exasperated that a war he voted against more than a decade ago, and once described as "dumb", is still haunting his presidency.

He is hugely frustrated that America has spent billions trying to build up Iraq's military, only to watch it crumble in the path of a far smaller force of extremists.

He is shifting much of the blame on Iraq's government and with it much of the responsibility to resolve the crisis.

Video:'Revolution Represents All Iraqis'

In all this he is probably in tune with US public opinion on the situation.

Americans lost patience with Iraq a long time ago.

"We tried to fix their mess, now it's down to them," might sum up the prevailing wisdom.

Video:Fighters Try To Consolidate Gains

But for the president it is not that simple. He is facing a nightmare scenario in Iraq.

Events may stop short of the fall of Baghdad, but even hand-to-hand combat in its streets between Sunni and Shiite forces won't make him look good fundraising in the California sunshine.

Few scenarios spare the president political damage back home.

Video:Militants' Advance Carves Up Iraq

If ISIS dig in and simply consolidate their territory, that will allow Mr Obama's opponents to claim he's stood midwife to the birth of a jihadist statelet that could be the base for attacks on US interests worldwide.

The longer the president ponders his options, the more likely ISIS can entrench its gains.

The crisis offers Republicans plenty of ammunition in the run up to this year's midterm elections.

Video:Iraqis Flee As Militants Advance

For now, Mr Obama is conditioning any US assistance to Iraq on its government taking steps to heal its sectarian divide.

"The United States will not involve itself in military action in the absence of a political plan by the Iraqis that gives us some assurance that they're prepared to work together," he said.

It is an understandable position given the divisive rule of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.